Mae West: A Black-Out

Jill Watts, biographer of MAE WEST, distinguished professor at CSUSM, and talented author of books on Father Divine [1879—1965] and Hattie McDaniel [1895—1952], which has inspired a bio-pic about the Oscar winner, has kindly consented to an exclusive interview with The Mae West Blog. This is Part 12.
• • MW BLOG: QUESTION #4:  Mae West managed to keep a lot of her relationships with men (Owney Madden, George Raft, various gangsters who dated her in the 1940s-1950s, etc.) a secret. What do you make of that romantic black-out? An effort to control her image — — or something more?
• • JILL WATTS: ANSWER #4:  Probably both an effort to control her image and something more. I think it was very important to her that her public persona match up with her fictional character.  To be tied to one man, which the era and traditional expectations required, would have undermined the independence and the sexually liberated aspect of her character.
• • JW:  But on the other hand, there was a real person underneath.  She was married to at least one man, if not more.
• • Mae West and Her Men • • . . .

• • This exciting interview with Prof. Jill Watts will be continued on the next post.
• • Recommended Reading: “Mae West: An Icon in Black and White” by Jill Watts [Oxford University Press; paperback edition, 2003]; 400 pages.
• • On Sunday, 15 August 1993 • •
• • Molly Haskell wrote an article "Mae West's Bawdy Spirit Spans the Gay 90s" and it ran in The New York Times, Section 2, on Sunday, 15 August 1993.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Quebec audiences did not hear Mae West say the lines “So many men, so little time” or “It’s easy to get married, but hard to stay that way,” thanks to the hyper-vigilant Canadian censors.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Cultivate your curves — — they may be dangerous but they won't be avoided.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Variety discussed Mae West.
• • By whatever standard posterity judges the acting career of Mae West, it never shall be said that she was dull. Every Day’s a Holiday, written by herself, is a lively, innocuously bawdy and rowdy entertainment.
• • West’s new characterization is of a Bowery girl named Peaches O’Day, one time actress of the 1890s, a con-girl, with liberal views on the subject of larceny.
• • Most action of the story takes place in New York City on the New Year’s Eve of 1900. . . .
• • Source: Variety; published on Thursday, 31 December 1936
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • • 
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — — 
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/

• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 14th anniversary • •  

• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fourteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,000 blog posts. Wow!  

• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fourteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4024th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • rehearsing with her husband in 1913 or 1914 • •
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